An Iranian diplomat seized two months ago in Iraq by uniformed gunmen has been released a move that suggested progress Tuesday in British efforts to win the freedom of 15 sailors and marines held by Iran. Neither British, U.S. nor Iraqi officials would say if the release of diplomat Jalal Sharafi was linked directly to Britain's efforts to gain its sailors' release. Britain has publicly sworn not to negotiate. And the signals from Iran grew less clear when the Fars news agency published a new picture of the sailors, showing them squatting on a carpet in track suits. The agency did not publish any of the "confessions" that had been condemned by the British government. The caption says: "British sailors are chatting and eating fruit, drinking coffee and playing chess. It seems that the sailors are satisfied with their situation, in which they are enjoying good conditions instead of working in a hard situation in the Persian Gulf." ... http://abcnews.go.com

Demolition crews started tearing down a graffiti-sprayed brick building Monday, prompting tears and cries of protest from youths whose eviction from the makeshift cultural center led to three nights of rioting.Workers wore face masks under their helmets to conceal their identities as an excavator tore into the so-called Youth House.As dust from the demolition filled the air, angry youth yelled obscenities at police who had cordoned off the area around the building. Others hugged and cried.Riot police kept a growing crowd away from the demolition site. Six people were arrested in the area for refusing to obey police orders, or trespassing, but no violence was reported."They are breaking my heart. I cannot stand it," said Birgitte, a black-clad 21-year-old woman with dreadlocks. She refused to give her last name, saying using one name was the norm among the people frequenting the building....http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/05/ap/world/mainD8NM2O5O0.shtml

New pictures of the 15 seized British sailors and marines were published Tuesday by the Iranian news agency Fars, just hours after UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said the way was open for diplomatic efforts to secure their release.The pictures show crew members talking in a group and playing a game. It was not immediately clear if new stills were a breach of Tehran's earlier suggestion that no more images would be published. Earlier Tuesday, Blair said he "most important thing is to get the people back safe and sound and if they want to resolve this in a diplomatic way the door is open."He added that "the next 48 hours will be fairly critical."Also Tuesday, Iran's chief international negotiator, Ali Larijani, told Iranian state television that the British government and Iran's foreign ministry are holding diplomatic talks about the situation....http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/04/03/iran.sailors/index.html?eref=rss_world

Georgia officials will hold a 2 p.m. press conference Tuesday to discuss a "big" development in the case of missing 911 operator Theresa Parker, family members confirmed to FOX News.Parker has been missing since the night of March 21, when she last spoke to a relative over the phone. Some of her family members have said they suspected that her husband, Sam Parker, had something to do with her disappearance. Sam Parker is a police officer with the LaFayette Police Department. The two were in the midst of a divorce when Theresa disappeared.Jonathan Wilson, Theresa's brother-in-law, told FOX News on Tuesday that "it will be a big story" when the news is announced later in the day."This is a great development," he said, but "it isn't what we thought."...http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,263642,00.html

While India may have officially been declared a leprosy-free zone, the disease continues to leave more than 100,000 sufferers often stigmatised and isolated. I met Mamatha at a health clinic in Hyderabad. She was wearing a bright yellow party dress. She is 10-years-old and has leprosy. The doctor asked her to close her eyes and then tickled her face with a nylon bristle. Mamatha knew this game. Each time she pointed with her finger to the place being tickled. But when a large patch of skin on her left cheek was touched, Mamatha didn't move. The skin patch is not eczema, which my own 10-year-old daughter suffers from, but leprosy. The disease causes nerve damage and creates what's called "anaesthetic skin". Now, if you cannot detect heat, cold, or pain you run the risk of serious limb damage. Repeated injury can mean people with leprosy lose fingers and toes. The clinic is run by the charity LEPRA. The doctor told me that fortunately Mamatha's leprosy had been caught early. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6510503.stm

A Marine lance corporal who said he had an aversion to killing and participating in war must be released from the military as a conscientious objector, a federal judge ruled. The Marine Corps Reserves must discharge Robert Zabala, 23, by mid-April, under the ruling. Zabala said he was troubled during boot camp in 2003 when a fellow recruit committed suicide and a superior used profanities to belittle the recruit. Zabala said he was ``abhorred by the blood lust (the superior) seemed to possess,'' according to a 2006 court petition for conscientious-objector status. Another boot camp instructor showed recruits a ``motivational clip'' showing Iraqi corpses, explosions, gun fights and rockets set to a heavy metal song that included the lyrics, ``Let the bodies hit the floor,'' the petition said. Zabala said he cried, while other recruits nodded their heads in time with the beat. ...http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6529785,00.html